Not too long ago, I went to an art exhibit at the Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts concerning an important recurring symbol in traditional Ukrainian folk culture -- the Tree of Life. The exhibit featured the beautiful watercolour art of Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn, a prominent Edmonton artist, curator, instructor and academic expert in the field of Ukrainian Ethnography at the University of Alberta.
The Tree of Life motif symbolizes life, strength, and the interconnectedness of heaven and earth. It appears in paintings, embroidery, mosaics, pysanky (Easter eggs), and wedding items. Homes often display a Tree of Life to bring good health and prosperity.
The Tree of Life motif is usually depicted as a vertical stem symmetrically balanced with birds, flowers, and/or cranberries on either side. The choice of specific birds and flowers is often symbolic as well. Cranberries (kalyna) represent longing and healing related to the unquiet dead (often soldiers killed in battle).
These photographs show my most favourite pieces from the exhibit. Please pardon the reflections of myself and the overhead lights in the frames' glass. If you'd like to see the other art from this exhibit, check out the artist's website here.
This final image is a practice piece detail for a larger work. Isn't it utterly charming!
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This post is also being linked to
Sunday in the Art Room HERE
17 comments:
Beautiful! My favorite is the one with the peacock. For some reason the last image isn't visible for me.
...may tree of life live on and on! 💛 💙
Amazing work,
They're all quite beautiful.
@ Duni -- Try refreshing the page. That often works for me when images don't show up the first time.
Beautiful!
What beautiful paintings.
I see them as embroidered pictures rather than paintings! Beautiful!
These pieces are really lovely. A couple of them even have a slightly Scandinavian feel, or perhaps the Scandinavian ones have a slightly Ukrainian feel.
Those are so lovely.
These are beautiful, Debra.
These are beautiful, thank you for showing us. The tree of life is an ancient motif in many cultures, and this style is particularly lovely.
Those are beautiful. I'd like one of each!
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you!
These remind me a great deal of the Mexican Tree of Life. Arbol de la Vida. They, however, are ceramic rather than painted. Have you ever seen any of those?
On her site the Kalyna, and Poppies 1 & 2 are my favorites. I wish I had the money to buy them.
@ Ms. Moon -- No, I haven't seen any of those, but I bet they're gorgeous!
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